Renata Adler’s novel Speedboat enters the mind of journalist Jen Fainn, following her musings of her life. Published in 1976, Speedboat offers the audience a glimpse into the effects of second wave feminism. Through the critical lens of third wave feminism, I will examine the ways in which Fain’s narration lays forth the benefits and disadvantages of second wave feminism. Second wave feminism was a cultural movement in the United States during the 1960s and 1970s. While women had gained formal political equality through the right to vote in first wave feminism, this wave called for social equality, such as the choice to marry, the choice to work outside the home, etc. Essentially, women wanted autonomy from male impositions on their movement …show more content…
Fain constantly describes herself as traveling or partying. Fain never worries about her basic needs being met, rather she has the time and economic security to worry about philosophical questions, such as the meaning of life. Fain states, “For a while, I thought I had no real interests… So I steeped myself, in thrillers, commercials, news magazines” (10). Fain has the economic freedom to us her time to explore what her true interests are. Women of lower classes often spend the majority of their time working and taking care of others, and would have no time to worry about what their “real interests” are. Fain does not realize her privilege in being able to use life for self understanding, rather than simply trying to survive, which is the life her lower class female peers live. Another way in which Fain’s narration explicitly ignores issues of class is through her frivolity. While trying to impress her partner with her cooking, Fain states, “Each morning when he left, I cooked a meal according to recipe… then tasted it, found it good, and threw it out… all afternoon, I would cook the meal again” (46). Fain does not even stop to think about all the food that she is wasting. Fain never reflects on the amount of people in the world that live without food, while she throws whole meals in the trash. Fain lives in an elitist mindset in which the only needs that concern her are her
Rampton, M. (2008). The Three Waves of Feminism . Retrieved from The Magazine of Pacific University.
In the 1960’s, the civil rights movement was the act inspiring the second wave of feminism. The passing of the civil rights act protected women
The origins and types of second-wave feminism provide a background for women’s experiences at the t...
The first wave of feminism is more commonly known as the women’s liberation or women’s suffrage movement. First wave feminist’s main concern was in political power especially in terms of the right to vote, having a voice. They believed that changes within society could be made gradually within society to achieve equality rather than having to demolish the way things were and reconstruct them.
Sara M. Evans, in her book, Tidal Wave: How Women Changed America at Century’s End, chronicles feminist activities over several decades from just before the beginning of the women’s liberation movement in the 1960’s through the 1990’s. Doctor Evans was born in 1943 and currently teaches at the University of Minnesota in the history department after receiving both her B.A. and M.A. at Duke University and then later her PhD from the University of North Carolina Chapel Hill.
The “Feminine Mystique” is a highly influential book in the early second wave feminism movement. It is said that it helped shaped the demands of the second wave by insisting for the right to work outside the home, and to be paid equally; the right for reproductive freedom; the demand that women should not be expected to have children and be mothers if they do not want to. Betty Friedan addresses “the problem that has no name” which is the women who are highly educated, suburban housewives that are bored and want something “more” in their life. This is the point where women knew we needed a second wave. Women’s role had gone backwards and they were beginning to realize that they were all experiencing the same “problem that has no name”. “The
In “Building the Third Wave” Laurie Ouellette addresses her stance on feminism by passing the audience a question as to “why so many young women have shunned feminism”. Ouellette states her response of feminism by giving reasons as to why young women are not supporting feminism. Ouellette states that one reason is because they do not have role models to reach out to young people. Another aspect of the feminism movement that struggled involved a lack of support from the economically disadvantaged and women of color due to the silence of the upper middle class white females. Also, Ouellette mentions that women do not like hearing about the past because they feel as if have been lied to in regards to feminism. Ouellette concludes the article by explaining that it is responsibility of generations past to fight to get more young women into the feminism movement.
The third wave of feminism is readopting the second wave by young women, for young women. the main goal for third wave was for women to reclaim their bodies for themselves and fighting the patriarchy.
Nussbaum, Felicity. “Risky Business: Feminism Now and Then.” Tulsa Studies in Women’s Literature 26.1 (Spring 2007): 81-86. JSTOR. Web. 11 Mar. 2014.
Shaw, Susan M., and Janet Lee. Women's Voices, Feminist Visions: Classic and Contemporary Readings. New York: McGraw-Hill, 2012. Print.
Locke, Jillian L. "Feminism (Second-Wave)." Encyclopedia of U.S. Political History. Ed. Thomas S. Langston. Vol. 6: Postwar Consensus to Social Unrest, 1946 to 1975. Washington, DC: CQ Press, 2010. 170-174. Gale Virtual Library
The origins of Third Wave feminism are highly debated, as there is no clear commonality that this wave uses to differentiate between the First and Second waves that occurred prior. Emerging during the 1990’s, Third Wave feminism sought to build upon the achievements and ideas that were accomplished during First and Second wave’s, by increasing the significance and accessibility of its ideas to a greater spectrum of people.
As women, those of us who identify as feminists have rebelled against the status quo and redefined what it means to be a strong and powerful woman. But at what cost do these advances come with?... ... middle of paper ... ... Retrieved April 12, 2014, from http://www.feminist.com/resources/artspeech/genwom/whatisfem.htm Bidgood, J. 2014, April 8 -.
Pretty Woman is a modern take on the classic Cinderella story where a poor misguided girl meets her prince and her life is dramatically changed. This film has fairy tale elements, but the biggest element in the movie is the use of sex; Vivian, the main character, is a prostitute. She meets her “prince” and is swept off of her feet, but what this really means is that she is bought for an entire week by a handsome, wealthy business man. One would assume that he was buying her for sex, but this is not your average prostitute transaction. This movie has a lot of third wave feminism ideals. Third wave feminism deals with using the female gender and sexuality to further the cause and portray their views. The ultimate goal of this paper is to show that Vivian Ward (portrayed by Julia Roberts), is the poster girl for third wave feminism.
Multiracial Feminism: Recasting the Chronology of Second Wave Feminism introduces ideas by Becky Thompson that contradict the “traditional” teachings of the Second Wave of feminism. She points out that the version of Second Wave feminism that gets told centers around white, middle class, US based women and the central problem being focused on and rallied against is sexism. This history of the Second Wave does not take into consideration feminist movements happening in other countries. Nor does it take into consideration the feminist activism that women of color were behind, that centered not only on sexism, but also racism, and classism as central problems as well. This is where the rise of multiracial feminism is put to the foreground and a different perspective of the Second Wave is shown.